Part of the history and magic of Fisherman's Wharf will be restored on September 18 when the Port of San Francisco holds a special nighttime lighting ceremony to inaugurate the Lagoon lighting project. The ceremony will begin at 7:45 p.m. at Fisherman's Wharf Lagoon on Jefferson Street, one-half block north of Taylor. The lighting of the Inner and Outer Fishing Boat Lagoons will occur at approximately 8:15 p.m., after fireboats come into the Lagoons with colored flood lights.

Mayor Willie Brown and Michael Hardeman, President of the San Francisco Port Commission, will officially light the project, which is the first phase of the Fisherman's Wharf lighting revitalization. Alessandro Baccari, Executive Secretary of the Fisherman's Wharf Association, will be the master of ceremonies, followed by Hardeman, who will discuss the revitalization.

The $1,000,000 lighting project, underway since 1996, creates a consistent, integrated lighting program for Fisherman's Wharf, and helps to re-establish the historical character of the area. It highlights the historic vessels and design motifs, and also brings much needed illumination to the fishing boats and safer pedestrian walkways at night.

The lighting consultant for the project is Auerbach + Glasow, a San Francisco firm that recently completed lighting projects for the renovation of the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House and the Palace of the Legion of Honor. FW Associates of San Francisco is the Consulting Engineer and Arcus Architecture of San Francisco is the Architect of Record. Mabal Bhat is the project manager for the Port of San Francisco.

"The new lights will make the Wharf feel friendly and safe again," says principal lighting designer Larry French of Auerbach + Glasow. "It will be a good place for San Franciscans to visit. The project is true to the historic fabric of the wharf, unifying the lighting elements into a coherent system to make the environment more attractive to pedestrians."

"Fisherman's Wharf is a vibrant part of the fishing industry in Northern California," French added, "and the lighting revitalization also focused on providing needed lighting for working fishing boats."

Improvements for the Lagoon lighting project include:

• Historically authentic light fixtures have been placed around the pedestrian walkways of the Lagoons to provide ambiance and nighttime safety. The fixtures, fabricated out of cast marine grade aluminum, have curved necks with decorative scroll work, and use state-of-the-art ceramic metal halide light sources. The original fixtures of 100 years ago were cast iron, with decorative scroll work and incandescent sources.
  
  
• Fishing boats will be brought back to life with high mast metal halide luminaires mounted on 30 foot poles that are placed in strategic locations around the Lagoons. The fixtures are sharp cut off luminaires that minimize glare and illuminate the boats in the Lagoon. Small lighting fixtures will be mounted on the edge of wharf sidewalks to provide needed lighting for working fishing boats.
  
  
• The lights will create drama and life around Pier 45 by lighting the facades with ground mounted fixtures and washing the columns between the windows with light. The insides of the Pier 45 facade windows will be illuminated, and the flags on top of Pier 45 will be lit.
  
  
• The stained glass windows of the Fisherman's Chapel will be lit for the first time at night, causing the Chapel to glow with color. The exterior walls of the Chapel will also be lit with subdued light.
  
  
• A historical nighttime feel will be created in Jones Lane by installing historically authentic industrial fixtures along the building facades.
  
  
• Lighting fixtures for the project are manufactured by Bega Lighting, Lithonia Hi-Tech, Kim Lighting, Beacon Lighting, Devine Lighting, and Greenlee Landscape Lighting. Philips Lighting was the manufacturer of the lamps.